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The United States has its sights set on another gold medal game appearance, as it gets set to face Sweden in the semifinals at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship.
- Watch women’s hockey on ESPN+
The U.S. came into the knockout stage as huge favorites thanks to a dominating effort. The Americans registered 36 goals, third-most by any team in the opening round, and the most since Team USA posted 37 in 2009. The team hit 13 goals twice in the group stage, giving up just one goal along the way. Their +35 goal differential is tied for the best with the American squad 17 years ago, as well as Canada’s performance in the preliminary round in the inaugural tournament in 2008.
The Americans then made easy work of Hungary in their quarterfinal matchup, beating Hungary, 9-0.
The U.S. entered this year’s tournament looking to avenge last year’s loss to Canada in the gold medal game. The Americans have made it to the championship game in all but one of the first 17 editions of the tournament, having won a record nine gold medals.
Sweden might be big underdogs, but they were the ones who beat the Americans in the semifinals in 2023. Damkronorna finished second in Group A, only losing to Canada in the group stage, before outlasting Slovakia in the quarterfinals.
IIHF UNDER-18 WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSemifinals
United States vs. Sweden
When: Saturday, January 17
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Where: Centre 200 (Sydney, Nova Scotia)
Stream: ESPN+